The trend toward quick food preparation by consumers encouraged by microwave ovens and other recent innovations have prompted the development of numerous types of packaging containers to speed food preparation. One such packaging container is employed for the dual function of packaging food products for shipping and storage thereof, and for also cooking the contents in an oven when the food is being prepared for consumption.
The prior art packaging container mentioned above comprises a front, rear, bottom and top wall, and end walls joined together to form a tubular container having an essentially rectangular cross-section. The rear wall is swingably connected to the side walls by pleated folding flaps, while the top wall is pivotally connected by a fold line to the swingable back wall. The top and back walls enclose the contents within the container for shipping and storage purposes, but may be unfolded when the container is opened by a consumer whereby the back wall forms an extension of the bottom wall and the top wall forms a side wall in a manner to provide a rectangularly shaped, open topped cooking pan for cooking food products previously packaged therewithin.
The prior art packaging container mentioned above was less than completely desirable in several respects. First, the side wall panels defining the cooking panel configuration of the container were joined together at the corners thereof by slit and locking tab combinations; this type of corner locking structure often allowed the uncooked contents within the pan to leak out of the container through the corners during the cooking process. Also, it was previously necessary to provide a top wall which was identical in size and shape to the bottom wall in order that the various panels of the container could be folded into the packaging configuration thereof to form a completely enclosed structure. Although raw food product ingredients, such as cake mixes, displace relatively little volume within the container during storage, the food products substantially expand in volume during the cooking process. Thus, only a relatively small quantity of ingredients may be packaged within prior art containers since the size of the unfolded cooking pan is limited by the size of the top wall which is required to enclose the container in the packaging configuration thereof.
The present invention provides a convertible packaging and cooking container which overcomes each of the difficiencies mentioned above inherent in the prior art container. According to the present invention, a convertible packaging and cooking container includes a bottom wall, three stationary side walls, a fourth swingable side wall pivotally mounted to the bottom wall, and a swingable top wall joined to the swingable side wall. The extremities of the swingable side wall are connected by pleated folding flaps to the adjacent stationary walls. Each of the side walls in the cooking pan configuration of the container are connected with each other by tuck flaps formed integral therewith. The tuck flaps each comprise a pair of segments formed integral with each other whereby the corners of the pan are completely enclosed by a continuous fold of material to prevent leakage of contents from the pan during the cooking operation. A closure panel is removably attached along one edge of the top wall and encloses a substantial portion of the top of the container when in the packaging configuration thereof, whereby to allow the use of a substantially larger bottom wall. The packaging container and cooking pan, along with the associated closure panel therefore may be formed from a blank comprising a single sheet of paperstock.